


Winter Winds

by thedevilstiger



Series: Avengers Apartment AU [1]
Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Apartment AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-19
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2018-04-15 13:54:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4609224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedevilstiger/pseuds/thedevilstiger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For as long as he could remember, Steve and the cold had been at odds. Between his sickly childhood and a horrific night he wants to forget, the cold brings back too many painful memories. This year, though, he has some friends to help him through...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter Winds

Three days. Steve stared out the window with disdain, pulling his blanket closer to himself at the sight of all the frigid, white powder outside. For three days, snow had fallen from the gray clouds, leaving Steve to curl up in blankets and turn up the thermostat. He knew that the bills would be high, but winters were always harsh on Steve. Ever since he was a small, sickly kid, the icy weather had meant trouble. These days, if the blond didn’t stay warm enough, he saw hospital beds, or worse-- _a car, a snowbank, a man behind the wheel, headlights_ \--

Steve hated winter.

Closing the blinds, Steve shuffled back over to his couch, wishing he had more blankets to pull around himself. The cable had gone out a few hours ago, and the landlord was supposed to be on his way, but Steve suspected he wasn’t the only one in the building with static instead of cartoons. Even so, he thought about calling again, just because the cold made him too antsy to sit around. It made him feel like--

_a snowbank, painpainnumbpain, squealing tires, silence, painpainpainpain--_

A knock on the door startled Steve out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat as he stood up, still clinging to the blankets even as he answered the door.

Before him stood a familiar group, all with sheepish smiles (except for a certain muscular blond who had a tendency to be overly friendly). In front stood none other than Tony Stark, the building’s owner, repairman, and one of Steve’s closest friends. “Hey, Steve. Everyone’s cable is out, and you have the cleanest apartment, so we were thinking about a night of board games? Bruce brought Clue,” Tony greeted. Behind him, Bruce waved shyly.

Relief flooded through Steve, spreading a tingly sort of warmth through him as he grinned back at the group. “I thought we lost some of the pieces,” he murmured as he stepped aside to let the others in.

“Clint was hiding them. One day he’ll find a better spot than under the sofa cushions,” Natasha replied smoothly, even as Clint groaned and hung his head.  Steve couldn’t help the fond laugh that slipped past his lips.

He was grateful no one brought up the heat of the room. If they had, he didn’t know how to explain it to them; Tony only knew half of the story, just because he’d been on the brunt end of some of Steve’s ramblings. Telling stories about himself tended to be a bummer, anyway, and Steve really didn’t want to take the smiles off his friends’ faces.

Besides, as he settled next to Natasha on the couch, Steve couldn’t imagine that his life was that bad, even with the snow outside. His life had been much worse, and for the first time in what felt like forever, he was finally starting to feel contentment again.

“Hey! Cap! Focus. You have to choose a character,” Tony called, snapping his fingers. Despite the casual tone of his voice, Steve could see the way the other’s face was pinched in concern.

“Mustard,” Steve grunted, forcing himself to focus on the game.  _Maybe_ , he thought, _if I can actually focus, I'll solve this first._

Unfortunately, focusing became pretty impossible when Steve started to drift off between turns, chin in his hands and eyelids drooping shut. A gentle poke in his side startled him into sitting up straight, and he turned to see Bruce giving a soft smile.

"If you're tired, you're allowed to tell us. It's your apartment to kick us out of," Bruce reminded Steve quietly.

Smiling tiredly, Steve shook his head. "Nah, it's okay. You guys can stay as long as you want, but I'm going to head off to bed. Night," he replied, raising his voice slightly as he addressed the others. With a lazy wave, he was standing up and heading to his room to do just that.

Bruce watched the mass of blankets shuffle off before he turned back to the game, sighing heavily. "Alright, I want to suggest it was in the dining room, with the rope, and Professor Plum did it."

"Oh, god damn it, Bruce. Stop accusing me; I'm doing my best," Clint exclaimed, even as Natasha leaned over and showed Bruce a card to disprove him. Thor's laughter boomed through the apartment.


End file.
